EE quickens 4G pace in Q3; revenue down

22 OCT 2013

EE said its 4G customer base has hit 1.2 million, driven by a 72 percent quarter-on-quarter jump in LTE subscribers. The third quarter figures show the operator has managed to beat its one million 4G target three months early.

Growing 4G take-up has also meant a larger portion of ARPU is taken up by data revenues. From a 31 per cent slice in Q3 2012, data (not including SMS) accounted for 43 per cent share of ARPU in the three months ended September.

EE further reports a net increase of 181,000 “high value” postpaid customers and that 56 per cent of its customers are now on postpaid plans. Postpaid customers, says the operator, generate an average of six times higher ARPU than prepaid.

EE has had nearly a year’s 4G head start in the UK, helping it to expand its 4G corporate account base beyond 3,200 during Q3. Large companies, including ASDA, BT, Canon, Expedia, Kimberly-Clark and Virgin Media, signed up with EE during the quarter.

EE boasts that it is Europe’s fastest-growing operator and that its new 4GEE tariffs – when taking into account speed and data allowance – beat any of its European counterparts when it comes to value.

Largely because of the trimming of its less lucrative prepaid base, EE had 25.1 million mobile subscribers by the end of September, down 2.7 per cent from 12 months previously.

The postpaid base was up 5.7 per cent, however, to 14.2 million subscribers.

Author

Ken Wieland

Ken has been part of the MWC Mobile World Daily editorial team for the last three years, and is now contributing regularly to Mobile World Live. He has been a telecoms journalist for over 15 years, which includes eight...More